Picture this: You’re walking down the street on a beautiful San Francisco day. You just took your mother, who is in town visiting, to the very popular China Town. On your way back, you two are laughing about your uncle’s dumb decision to spontaneously shave …
My Reflective Narrative by Chelsea Frank
Writer’s Reflection The idea my paper would have to focus on was fairly obvious to me once I thought it over for a bit; the narrative about how I spoke differently than your average high school graduate due to my upbringing was really the only …
A Different Medal of Honor by Megan Schaefer
It was the summer of 2008. School was right around the corner, and fall sports were in action. It was the last day of volleyball tryouts, and everyone was exhausted, due to the long week of strenuous conditioning and intensive drills. I had been playing …
A Year of Lying by Samantha Thurman
When people think of Smoothie King they think of nutrition, health, and losing weight. It’s not exactly the same for the people who work there. My coworkers and I used to joke about how our job is not to sell smoothies or get people to …
“So Much Has Changed in a Year,” Sarah Marie Noonan (2011) — Inquiry 5
Reflecting on something is not always the easiest thing to do. It is hard to remember what all happened over the course of a semester or a year and therefore your reflection may be a little off. However, reflecting on written works allows for a …
“Baking and Writing,” Kaitlin Pizzimenti (2011) — Inquiry 5
Two things I enjoy doing are writing and baking. I think, that writing is a lot like baking. And to write a good piece of literature, whatever it may be, is like baking a delicious cake. Marble cake is one of my favorites. I have …
“The Road to Success,” Sam Illig (2011) — Inquiry 5
Throughout the academic year I feel that my writing skills have improved a tremendous amount. I feel that due to my college writing experience, my approach to beginning a paper has changed for the better. I have acquired new tools to help me convey my …
“My Life As a Writer,” Tessa Newland (2011) — Inquiry 5
Going into high school, I did not understand how some people are ‘good’ writers while others are not. I could not grasp the concept of working on a paper as much as I would study for a test. I wrote essays, revised them for grammatical …
“Merit Pay,” Taylor Wucinich (2011) — Inquiry 4
For this fourth inquiry, I composed two public service announcement (PSA) scripts, concerning teacher merit pay. In my first PSA a woman, playing the role of a mother, was speaking to an audience of parents about the risks and potential harm of merit pay for …
“The Pepsi Generation,” Nikki Resor (2011) — Inquiry 2
Writer’s Reflection The advertisement I chose to rhetorically analyze was a Pepsi commercial that was aired in 2006 during the Super Bowl. This commercial features Britney Spears as an icon in past generations; each scene involves the refreshing goodness of Pepsi and how young people …
“Listening Rhetoric A: The Death Penalty,” Katherine Killeen (2011) — Inquiry 1
Writer’s Reflection In my English 111 class we began by discussing rhetoric, the study of how people tell stories. For our first assignment, we were asked to think of a topic, or argument, that we feel strongly about and have difficulty listening to. We then …
“Skype,” Ashley Tway (2011) — Inquiry 1
My alarm starts to beep and I roll over to look at my clock. Five-thirty in the morning. I immediately jolt out of bed and a smile spreads across my face. I quickly glance out my window to notice the sun barely beginning to creep …
“Cyberbullying and How to Create a More Tolerant America,” Caitlan Ogle (2011) — Inquiry 3
Writer’s Reflection In light of the recent slew of suicides plaguing the LGBT community, especially Tyler Clementi’s, cyberbullying seemed to me like a topic that was current and, more importantly, for which debate was truly necessary. Tyler’s roommate filmed him having sex with another man …
“Laptops Hurt Rather Than Help,” Kelly Conroy (2011) — Inquiry 3
As you look into a classroom, the ideal sight one would want to find is one where students are at their desks, taking notes feverishly, eager to participate in class, and paying full attention to the lecture at hand. While this is the idea of …